Cosmic Censorship: The Role of Quantum Gravity

TL;DR

This paper argues that cosmic censorship, a key hypothesis in classical general relativity, is fundamentally a quantum gravity phenomenon, with quantum effects potentially restoring censorship violations observed classically.

Contribution

It introduces a thought experiment showing classical violations of cosmic censorship and demonstrates that quantum effects can restore the conjecture's validity.

Findings

Classical violations of cosmic censorship are possible in certain scenarios.

Quantum effects can prevent the formation of naked singularities.

Cosmic censorship may be an inherently quantum gravitational principle.

Abstract

The cosmic censorship hypothesis introduced by Penrose thirty years ago is still one of the most important open questions in {\it classical} general relativity. In this essay we put forward the idea that cosmic censorship is intrinsically a {\it quantum gravity} phenomena. To that end we construct a gedanken experiment in which cosmic censorship is violated within the purely {\it classical} framework of general relativity. We prove, however, that {\it quantum} effects restore the validity of the conjecture. This suggests that classical general relativity is inconsistent and that cosmic censorship might be enforced only by a quantum theory of gravity.